Pages

Friday, August 16, 2013

Something Cool in Kingman....

I've spent some of my quilting time of late working on other projects, some for me and some helping others. My world is the computer.....virtually and literally. It's my comfort zone, my go-to activity when I need to do something I know. Although often a source of intense frustration, I appreciate its succinct need to have things in order and just so. (I digress.) Getting to the point, I built another website in the past month - Kingman Quilters' Guild for my stitchin' sistas.

Let me bring you up to date - Kingman, AZ was chosen by the Smithsonian exhibit group to house "Journey Stories", a collaborative exhibit between the Smithsonian Institute and Arizona Humanities Council, where stories are told about immigration, transportation, migration and the memories of the journey to get "there".

Locomotive Park, Kingman, AZ

The Mother Road

Our local quilters' guild, Kingman Quilters' Guild, was chosen to participate likely because transportation is a secondary theme of the exhibit. Not only does Kingman have a strong history in railroad, but Historic Route 66, The Mother Road, runs directly through our city. Our city was established in the early 1880s by Lewis Kingman who
located the route of the Santa Fe Railway. Kingman is also the county seat for Mohave County. And, of course, The Mother Road - what more needs to be said. We're a mecca of transportation! And a local, centralized hub of extremely gifted and experienced quilters.

So, while this wonderful exhibit is coming to Kingman, and our local quilters' guild without a website to toot the horn, I received approval from the guild members to launch a website on their behalf. With a great team of wanna-be-webbies, the site is now in soft launch mode.

From September 28th through October 10th Kingman Quilters' Guild will be having a quilt exhibit rather than our regularly scheduled quilt show. Quilts will be housed at the Mohave Museum of History and Arts, 400 W. Beale St., Kingman, AZ. We will have three exceptional display areas that include a tribute to the various eras of quilting, an exhibit of members' personal journey quilts and our story of transportation.

The eras of quilting is close to my heart as I'm chairing the Decorative Arts quilt display. I actually have a quilt in my display on loan from one of our members that was made in 1890!! Can you imagine? That's before my grandma was born!! It's a lovely display of crazy

Nancy H's 1890s quilt

quilts, the primary quilting style of the Decorative Arts era. Other eras include Pioneer, Depression, War, Folk Art, Album and Contemporary. It's quite an array of history and talent all bundled into the museum display.

It boggles my mind to think of the conditions under which some of these early quilts were produced. Remember, there was no electrical lighting prior to the early 1900s, so these loving pieces of history were produced by busy hands during daylight hours afterthe chores and daily routines were done. Incredible....

Just yesterday, my sista Sally asked if I'd do an interview on KGPS 98.7 (Kingman's God Praising Station) radio within the next couple weeks to highlight the upcoming exhibit. Hopefully I'll have time to publish the details and you can tune in (either locally or via the internet) to hear all the details! Frankly, I can't wait - 'cause "the girls" (Amy & Jamie) are just a hoot! And they both just crack me up.

Karin's Crazy Quilt

If you happen to be in the Kingman area in late September or early

October and you have an inkling of interest in quilting, stitching, sewing, etc. stop in and take a peek. If not, check out the Smithsonian Journey Stories Tour schedule.....maybe they're coming to a city near you!!